Washington, DC — NASD today conducted its Annual Meeting, during which the membership of NASD voted to elect four people to the NASD Board of Governors. Two of the individuals, William C. Alsover and Sharon P. Smith, were elected to a second term of three years. Former U.S. Comptroller General Charles Bowsher, who was appointed to fill a vacancy last July, was elected to his first three-year term on the Board, as was Joel Seligman, Dean of the School of Law at Washington University. The terms of the four Governors begin today.

The NASD Board consists of 21 Governors, a majority of whom are from outside the securities industry. Each year the terms of approximately one-third of the Governors expire. Governors are eligible to serve up to two terms on the NASD Board. The Governors elected today by vote of the members and their terms of office are as follows:

Barbara L. Weaver, as Chair of the National Adjudicatory Council (NAC), will commence a one-year term on the Board beginning with the NAC’s first meeting in 2004. She is Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer of Howard Weil, Incorporated.

NASD is the leading private-sector provider of financial regulatory services, dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. NASD touches virtually every aspect of the securities business - from registering and educating all industry participants, to examining securities firms, enforcing both NASD rules and the federal securities laws, and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and member firms. For more information, please visit our Web Site at www.nasd.com.